


Deception

by raf_51



Category: Arrow (TV 2012), DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV)
Genre: Emotional Baggage, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, Hurt/Comfort, not-canon
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-20
Updated: 2018-04-01
Packaged: 2019-04-05 04:01:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,841
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14035758
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/raf_51/pseuds/raf_51
Summary: Ava woke up to the sound of her door closing, she didn't need to look beside her to see that it was empty - Sara had left.





	1. Chapter 1

Ava Sharpe… cool, smart, collected, Ava Sharpe. Well, she didn’t feel like any of those right now, she felt nothing more than a looser… _I can’t believe I was that stupid!_

Ava spent her day thinking about Sara, blaming herself for sleeping with her, she tried to rationalize it all but no matter what excuse she came up with she still felt dirty, she was so sure there was something between her and Sara, at least she hoped there was something, but it was one sided, she should have known! She had read Sara’s file, she should have known. _Girlfriend! Really? I’m such a sucker! I need to forget about her and concentrate on work, that’s the best I can do right now._

Unfortunately fate didn’t seem to agree with her, as she was typing her latest report, she heard her phone ringing, it was her. _Fuck!_ Every cell in her body screamed at her not to answer, but she needed to, she needed answers and closure.

"Yes?" Keep cool it Ava, remember all these assholes fear you, keep it together!

"Hi, it’s me"

"I know, I have caller ID."

"Look I wanted to tell you that I’m sorry about this morning, I shouldn’t have left like I did."

"Yeah, you shouldn’t, it was rude." _So far so good…_

"I’m sorry."

"Why are you calling Sara?" _I’m calm._

"I wanted to say…"

"Why are you really calling?" _Very calm…_

"Last night was a mistake" _That’s what I’ve been telling myself since 5 am!_ Ava was really trying to keep calm, but it was getting harder by the second.

"I kind got that part when you left without saying anything." Ava was being stone cold, there was no way she would give in.

"I need you to know that it’s not you, it’s.." _Oh god…_

"Let me stop you right there Sara. Are you really going with that? The most overused excuse of all time, you’re loosing points in originality." She wasn’t so calm anymore.

"Damn it Ava are you going to let me talk?!"

Ava hung up the phone, Sara didn’t exactly yell but it was clear she was angry or sad, or whatever and Ava didn’t have to take it, she knew when she was being dumped Sara didn’t have to linger on it, - _she didn’t feel the same way, would be enough_ \- she was hurt enough, there was no need to listen to whatever that jerk wanted to say.

"I need to calm down." She said to herself out loud but her mantra wasn’t working she was burning with rage. "There was no way I’m finishing that report now!" Ava took a deep breath and tried to think, she should go home, there was nothing she could do in the state she was in. She was about to put her coat on when she saw a portal opening up in her office and Sara walking through it - _I really needed to get that fucking bracelet back!_ Here she thought her day couldn't get any worse.

"What do you think you doing?" Ava said acting annoyed as in she wasn’t about to burst in tears.

"I need to finish what I was saying." Sara was obviously nervous, her voice shaking but Ava didn’t care anymore, as of now their relationship would be purely professional.

"The part where it’s not my fault but yours, believe me there’s no need, the message was clear."

"Every time I get involved with someone they end up getting hurt, I can’t do this to you Ava"

"Thank you for worrying but I can take care of myself, I have a gun and everything. But don’t worry it was a one night stand, it happens, people move on, there’s no need for whatever it is you’re trying do here…"

"You know it was more than that…"

"It wasn’t Sara, it stoped being anything the moment you left. I have to go home and you should leave too, it should be easy for you." That was harsh, Ava knew it.

"I deserve that… I just want to say, I’m sorry…" And that was it, the last straw of Ava’s patience, she hated, no correct that, she absolutely abhorred excuses and it was probably Sara’s fourth excuse of the night, she couldn’t keep up the façade anymore.

"You know what Sara I don’t accept your fucking excuses, you knew what you were doing, you used me and you knew you would hurt me, because you’re right I thought there was more, that there would be more eventually, you knew how I felt and you didn’t care. So yes, I’m hurt, but eventually I will move on and I’ll forget all about you, nothing but a mistake. Meanwhile you’ll be stuck in your miserable cycle of self loathing, alienating everyone around you. Now get the fuck out of my office." _Fuck fuck fuck!_ That was all Ava could think. She didn’t wait to see Sara leave, she grabbed her things and left, she was furious.

\- _How dare she say she’s sorry!_ \- Ava got in the elevator, so furious she was shaking, she leaned against the mirror in the cabin, trying to calm down. The anger slowly leaving its place to sadness and Ava couldn’t help but shed a few tears, feeling stupid for letting her guard down with Sara.

"Get yourself together Ava!" She told herself while drying her tears with her free hand. After all it was nothing alcohol and lots of work couldn’t fix.

Alcohol was useful the first few days, but she knew she couldn’t rely on it to fix everything, after a few days she pulled herself together and decided work would be the best remedy. She came in to the Bureau that day ready to end all anachronisms out of existence! At first her team was worried, she was different, so driven that they broke all the bureau’s records in a month. Ava was still grieving but she was feeling better and eventually everything would be fine.

The fact that the idiots were laying low was probably helping, but she knew it was only a matter of time before they screw up and she would have to fix their mess again, she dreaded that day…

******

Sara walked through the portal, back in the Waverider, she hoped no one would see her but she had no such luck, Zari was having a snack in the mess room.

"Hey where did you go? I didn’t know you had left…" Sara couldn’t move, she knew there was tears in her eyes and Zari who was walking towards her would see them, normally it would bother her "Sara what happened? Are you okay?"

"I’m fine."

"No you’re not. Were you on a mission? Did something happen? Are you hurt?" Sara just nodded no with her head, there was too many things happening at the same time. "Where were you Sara?"

"At Ava’s office"

"Did she do something to you? What happened ? I’m calling the others, the Time Bureau has gone too far!"

"Don’t call them… I, I broke up with her"

"Oh"

"We weren’t really together, but…"

"It’s okay, you don’t have to tell me, let’s get you to your room."


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I noticed that my timeline was a little bit off, I totally forgot about Constantine at the end of the Beebo episode, so this entire story is taking place at the end of episode 9 but the Constantine scene at the end never happened, I'll eventually write it in later.

Sara knew she shouldn’t have slept with Ava, she would only endanger her even more. The night they had together was amazing, she liked Ava, she liked her a lot, and she knew it would be very easy to love her but it was a mistake. And it only made everything worse.  
That night Ava invited her over for drinks, the evening was great, she actually laughed and she couldn’t even remember the last person who made her laugh, really laugh, but Ava did…  
She didn’t want it to happen, correct that, she was trying very hard not to let anything happen, and the worse part was that she was the one who started it all. She told herself she would stop at one kiss, just one kiss, but that one kiss ended up being their downfall. She screwed up everything as usual… But in the end I did the right thing, I did hurt her but it’s better than getting her killed.

She had to get up, the team had anachronisms to chase, she wished she could stay in bed, just one day, just once spend the whole day in bed and not talk to anyone. She deserved it, after everything she’d been through for their missions, for the so called greater good.  
_The world can go to hell I’m not getting up!_

"Sara it’s me" _Damn!_ Me was Zari, and Zari was the only one who saw the state she arrived in the previous night and the last person Sara wanted to see, she knew the other woman was worried, and she probably had questions, questions Sara didn’t want to answer, not right now or ever. Sara told Gideon to shut the door, she knew it wouldn’t hold Zari but maybe she would get the message.

"I know you’re in there, don’t make tell Gideon to open the door." Again no answer, there was a few minutes of quiet, Sara thought Zari had finally left but as usual lately she was wrong. Zari managed to override her order and entered her room.

"You know I’ve practically rebuilt Gideon right?"

"Get out Zari." Sara said tiredly, she didn’t have the force to be mad anymore.

"Do you want me to tell the team that you’re sick?"

"I’m not sick!"

"Would you prefer I tell them you’re heartbroken?"

"I’m not heart… Tell them I’m hungover" 

"You shouldn’t be alone right now Sara, we could go on a fun mission, something to get your mind off of Ava."

"I’m fine"

"We’ve been through a lot of hard times since I came to this ship and yet I’ve never seen you like this, this must have been pretty bad for you to be like that. Nothing stops you Sara." She got no answer from Sara so she continued "What happened with Ava? You were excited to go out with her, what happened last night Sara?"

"Stop saying her name, I wasn’t excited about anything, there was nothing between us!"  
"If you don’t want to talk to me it’s fine, but you need to talk to someone, something obviously scared you, enough to give up on whatever chance you had with Ava. And the Sara I know isn’t scared of anything so this must have been pretty bad."

"I’m fine Zari, go tell the others to go without me, tell them I’m sick or whatever."

Zari finally gave up, Sara couldn’t tell anyone what happened, if they knew they would probably have her committed and the worse part was that she herself had no explanation for what happened."

To Sara’s dismay Zari came back a few minutes later. "What are you doing back here and would you please fix Gideon so I can keep you out?!"

"She’s not broken, it’s programing. I told the others you needed someone to hold your hair as your threw up."

"Zari!"

"They took a level 4 mission, they shouldn’t have any problem. So if you need me I’ll be 'fixing' Gideon as you say"

"Damn you can be annoying!"

"I know right, if you need me call me!"

Zari left her alone once again. Sara was relieved, she would finally have some time to herself, she thought about staying in bed all day but now that the she could she didn’t feel like it anymore. Zari wasn’t right when she said nothing could stop her, she was scared, there were two possibilities and she didn’t like either of them, she was either loosing her mind or someone else was making her loose her mind, she was afraid of finding out which one was true.  
She took advantage of the fact that the ship was almost empty and went to the med-bay, laid down on one of the beds and ordered Gideon to do a full check up on her.

"Captain my scans show nothing wrong with you, but if you tell me your symptoms maybe I can be more thorough."

"It’s alright Gideon, thank you."

She was looking at her brain scans as if she knew better than Gideon but she needed to be sure, she didn’t know what she was hoping, she couldn’t even read the damn thing, she hoped there would be answers.  
Suddenly she felt a presence behind her and turned around, ready to attack, but it was only Zari.

"What are you doing?!"

"I came by your room and you weren’t there, Gideon told me you were here. But what are YOU doing?"

"Nothing?"

"Are you sick? Why are you looking at brain scans?"

"You can be really annoying, you know that right?"

"Not the first time I hear that, no. But it’s only because I care and I’m worried."

Sara understood she couldn’t keep up the façade, she couldn’t go on hiding forever, at least she liked Zari, this should be easier. _Maybe I do need help…_ She sat down on one of the beds, took a deep breath and started talking.

"I really like Ava, a lot. She’s funny you know… We had a great night, it was amazing actually. But later that night I was sleeping and something happened, it was some sort of nightmarish vision and something or someone was in my head, it came to me, I think it was Mallus, he said things I didn’t know but they felt so real… he said he was coming for me and he would kill everyone I knew. He showed me Ava as if he was following her, everywhere." 

"I’m sorry Sara, that must have been awful, but what if it was just a nightmare? You’re so afraid of letting anyone in that maybe your mind is playing tricks on you."

"He, it… whatever it was! It took control of my body… he made me put my hand around Ava’s throat and I never felt so afraid of anything in my life as in that moment, he could have done anything he wanted, I was powerless, all I could do was watch! I can’t go through that again."

"My god Sara, this is serious."

"That’s why I left, I’m becoming too dangerous Zari, I can’t let someone else I care about die because of me."

"Do you have any idea whatsoever about what caused this?"

"Maybe?"

"Tell me Sara." Zari asked annoyingly.

"Do you remember Helen of Troy, when Dhark’s daughter sucked the life out of me?"

"Of course, Gideon had to put you in a coma."

"I think Nora did more than take, I think that somehow she put something inside me, something evil… and then with the Beebo thing when jumped dimensions with the Dharks, I think somehow Mallus is in me."

"This is crazy Sara…"

"Yes"

"And I take it you were asking Gideon if she could find anything?"

"Yes…"

"Did she?"

"She says there’s nothing wrong with me."

"Then we’ll find someone who can find out!"

"You can’t tell anyone Zari, I need to…"

Suddenly they both heard a noise outside the med-bay, they looked at each other and ran towards it, once outside they saw Gary from the Time Bureau, picking up a pen on the floor. Sara threw him against the wall and asked him what he was doing.

"I’m sorry, I didn’t hear anything I swear!"

"Then how do you know there was something to hear? And why are you so scared?!" Sara asked forcefully as she was lightly crushing his windpipe.

"You’re trying to kill me! I swear I won’t tell anyone, I swear! Please don’t kill me?!" Sara let him go, he fell on the floor trying to breathe.

"What are you doing here Gary?" Zari asked more calm than Sara.

"I’ve been assigned to the Waverider, didn’t she tell you?"

"What?! No she didn’t tell me! Do we look like we were expecting you?! Go back to the Bureau Gary, we don’t need you here."

"I can’t! This isn’t my fault, you can call her and figure this out, you’re scary but not as scary as her, if she say I have to stay here, I’m staying here."

"Do you want me to call her?" Zari asked knowing very well Ava was the last person Sara wanted to talk to at the moment.

"No we better wait, he knows too much now, take his coms. Gideon make sure he can’t reach the Bureau."

"This is a bad idea Sara."

"We have no other choice." Then Sara turned to Gary "If you so much as say a word about anything you heard, to the Bureau or anyone else here I’ll leave you in a time so far away from now, there will be nothing on earth but dust and with just enough food and water that you’ll go crazy before you die of hunger, is that clear?!"

"Yes, I won’t tell anyone I swear! But Ava will send someone else in if I don’t report back to her."

"Don’t worry you’ll talk to her plenty."

 

*****

 

Ava knew something was wrong with Gary, he knew something and was hiding it from her.  
She wondered if there was something wrong with the Waverider team or maybe he learned about what had happened between her and Sara, and that’s why he was acting weird, maybe Sara told him something, or someone else on the team, they must have had a good laugh at her expense, thinking she had a chance with Sara. Either way she wasn’t pushing Gary to tell her anything, whatever mess they got into she didn’t care anymore, from now on she would only do the bare minimum regarding the Waverider.cIt wasn’t always easy, sometimes Ava had a hard time keeping up the façade, there were days where it was harder not to ask Gary about her, but so far she was keeping it up.

And today was one of those days where Gary had to come in and tell her again that everything was normal with the ship and in turn she wouldn’t question anything he had to say, normally that’s what she would do. But unfortunately one of the idiots that worked for her handed her a report about the ship and now she couldn’t ignore it.

"So Gary anything new to report from the ship?"

"Nothing to report Agent Sharpe, everything is going smoothly."

"Really?! Then why do I have a report that says Constantine was on the Waverider Gary?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I want to thank everyone who commented or left kudos on the first chapter, this being my first posted story it definitely motivates me to post my other works.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter takes place after ep. 11.

"So Gary anything new to report from the ship?"

"Nothing to report Agent Sharpe, everything is going smoothly."

"Really?! Then why do I have a report that says Constantine was on the Waverider Gary?"

"I…I, I didn’t know! I know nothing, they don’t tell me anything!"

Gary was even more wide-eyed than usual, he knew he was between a rock and a hard place, in other words between Sara and Ava, (although he had yet to figure out which one was which, but most of the time he felt like Sara was the rock and Ava the hard place).

"Gary what is going on? I sent you to the Waverider so you could report on everything that goes on that ship, don’t play the goofy agent card, you know it doesn’t work on me." Ava asked tiredly, not wanting this whole thing to be more complicated than it sounded.

"They won’t trust me if I tell you anything, I’ll be useless to you!"

"I don’t care! You’ll be out of a job if you don’t tell me everything!"

"They called Constantine like over a month ago…"

"If you don’t tell me everything right now I’m transferring you to the archives, indefinitely."

"They’re going to kill me!"

"No Gary, I will if you don’t start talking!"

"There’s something wrong with Sara… She… Constantine believes she was possessed by a demon… Mallus."

"What?! When did that, how the hell did that happen?!" Ava stumbled for words, she saw a lot of craziness in her line of work but this was a whole new level of crazy!

"It was a few months ago and they won’t tell me anything about it!"

"You should have told me Gary!" Ava was clearly disappointed.

"I couldn’t, Sara said she would kill me if I ever told you!" Gary looked like someone who had lost his puppy, he was disappointing not only Ava but Sara too.

"Her life’s in danger Gary, you should have told me! And why did it take them so long to reach Constantine?"

"He doesn’t have a phone."

"Gary, I’m getting a headache here, explain everything, from the beginning, every single detail!"

"I don’t think it’s my place to tell you everything, you should talk to her, this is very complicated Agent Sharpe. You’re putting me in difficult place!"

"Start. Talking." Ava was running out of patience.

"Sara had some blackouts. She heard some voices and apparently things got worse." Gary looked even more uncomfortable than usual but Ava had no way of knowing that it was because he actually knew what happened between her and Sara, and he knew that Ava didn’t know anything, there was no way he was getting more involved than he already was.

"Worse how?" She asked impatiently. 

"The demon actually took over her body… twice."

"I see…" Ava took a deep breath and continued "What did Constantine had to say about it all?" She asked, trying very hard to maintain her calm, she shouldn’t care, but it wasn’t as easy done than said.

"Well he said that if the demon ever possessed Sara again we would have to kill her…"

"What the hell Gary?!"

"Palmer made an anti-magic gun and Constantine believes it will kill Sara."

"Get me Constantine! I want to talk to him, right now!"

*****

Gary did a quick job of finding out where Constantine was. As soon as they had an address they both went pay a little visit to the weird warlock and Ava had no idea what to expect but it certainly wasn’t the mess she was in.

"What is this place Gary?"

"It’s his office, you’ll see, he’s a little bit off."

"I can see that already." She was looking around at the very peculiar decor when Constantine walked in.

"Gary? What are you doing here?" Constantine asked truly surprised. "And who’s you lovely friend?"

"I’m Agent Sharpe, from the Time Bureau, I would like to ask you some questions about Captain Lance’s situation."

"Sara?"

"Yes, Gary informed me she was possessed by Mallus, who poses a great threat to the world, I want to know how to defeat him." Ava was being professional and didn’t waste time with meaningless talk.

"Are you here about Sara or Mallus, love?" Unfortunately Constantine didn’t feel the same way about meaningless talk.

"Don’t call me love, I’m here because the fate of the world is at stake! And Sara’s life."

"I see… Well ever since what happened at the mental institute I’ve been doing some research, I’ve found some texts that mention the power of the six, it is believed that when together it is the most powerful force on earth, capable of defeating all evil from the underworld and beyond. Very powerful stuff! What did you say your name was again, darling?"

"Agent Sharpe, asshole! What is the power of the six? And where do I find it?"

"Hey! Don’t be rude, I’m helping you here. Agent Sharpe as in Ava Sharpe?"

"Yes. Would you please concentrate. Power of the six, what is it?!"

"I believe we already have at least two of them, they’re totems, people who wear the totems acquire the power of the elements, those two ladies on the Waverider have two of them, air and spirit, I don’t know about the others. Sara talked about you when we were at the institute, apparently she tried to kill you while you were asleep, did you notice anything strange about her that night?"

"What did you just say?" Ava asked suddenly extremely confused.

"Did you notice anything weird about her, anything to suggest she was being possessed?"

"Sara tried to kill me?" Ava was punched in the gut before but this was worse, much worse.

"Oh you didn’t know!"

"No, I didn’t…"

"Anyway did you notice anything?"

"How do I find the other totems?"

"Do you always answer questions with another question?"

"Gary did you know that?" Ava asked when she saw Gary refusing to meet her eyes.

"I guess you do…" Constantine stated, but the tension in the room was too high for him to be heard.

"Gary?!"

"I’m sorry…"

Ava was lost in her own mind, all she could think about was Sara and how she could hurt her so much even months after they were done. All she felt was shame, everyone knew, everyone but her. She left Constantine’s office, activated her time courier and went to the only place she would get answers. She was putting an end to it all, tonight.

 

*****

Sara and the team had just been back from their latest mission, thankfully there were no screwups, the last thing she needed was Ava calling her. Her breaking up with Ava had actually been good for the team and the missions, she was so afraid of having to see Ava again that she no longer tolerated any mistakes from her teammates. But of course it was too good to be true and she knew that sooner or later someone would screw up and she would have to face Ava, she just didn’t expect that day to be now! When Sara walked in her office Ava was sitting in one of the chairs, seemingly waiting for her.

"Ava, what are you doing here?!" 

"I need to know the truth…" Ava looked sad, sadder even than the last time they spoke.

"What are you talking about?" She asked obviously confused by the statement.

"Constantine told me what happened, is it true?" Ava’s eyes were almost soulless and Sara wanted to kill herself for causing that.

"Constantine is crazy Ava, he doesn’t know what he talks about, he’s almost always drunk."

"Did you try to kill me?" Ava’s eyes were wet and Sara understood how serious this was.

"Ava…"

"Did you?!" Ava interrupted, all she wanted was a yes or no.

"It wasn’t me, I was… it was Mallus, he…"

"That’s why you left…"

"Yes…" It wasn’t a question but Sara answered anyway, she couldn’t stand the way Ava was looking at her. She hoped Ava would understand now. "I couldn’t put your life at risk, I was too…"

"I have to go." Ava didn’t let her finish, she wasn’t interested in what Sara had to say anymore.

"Ava wait!"

"I told you I have to go."

"No! You came all the way here for an explanation so let me explain! Please?"

"There’s no need, I understand perfectly, you didn’t want to endanger me, I get it."

"But do you understand now? Do you understand why I had to leave?" Sara was almost begging for an answer, for redemption, for Ava to say that what she did was okay, but of course things didn’t go the way she wanted.

"No I don’t. You know what? I actually do, you didn’t care enough to stay!"

"What?! How could you say that? I cared too much to stay! Can’t you see that?!"

"Sara I didn’t come here to fight with you, I just needed answers, I got them, now I’m going to leave."

"You can’t just show up here and leave me like that?!"

"Like what Sara? Like the way you left me? Not so good when it’s done to you is it?"

"Why can’t you understand that I did it to protect you! I was falling in love with you, you would have been an easy prey to anyone who would have wanted to hurt me!"

"You were falling in love with me?! Is that a joke? If you had any feeling for me you would have fought for what we might have had a little bit harder than you did!"

"Don’t try to diminish my feelings, I was hurting just as much as you! I woke up to a demon controlling my body, making me kill you! My hands were squeezing your neck! How do you think that made me feel?!!! I didn’t want to leave but I had to protect you!"

Ava didn’t know that part, she realized how hard it must have been for Sara, she couldn’t imagine going through that but she wished she was at least given the chance. "I would have stayed by your side… I would have helped you. You didn’t even try Sara." She finally said, calmer than before.

"I’m sorry…"

"I believe you. I have to go now."

"Okay." 

"Oh and Sara, I’ll do everything in my power to end Mallus."

Sara didn’t get to answer, Ava had already been through the portal.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks again for the comments!  
> Thanks also to Leapyearbaby29 for noticing that I got Dhark's daughter name wrong on the last chapter.


End file.
